High winds knock out power, down trees in overnight storm

DH Vancouver StaffJun 12, 2015 8:19 am

Perhaps all those but very heavy sleepers were awoken by a sudden wind storm early Friday morning that toppled trees and power lines.

The high winds began around 1 a.m., according to Environment Canada, with gusts of up to 60 km/h from the west at the Vancouver Airport. By 4 a.m. the storm reached wind speeds of 54 km/h with gusts of 72 km/h.

BC Hydro reported a number of power outages affecting thousands of people across Metro Vancouver, including Richmond, Surrey, Port Moody, Delta, Langley and Vancouver. As of 8 a.m. Friday morning, 1120 customers remained without power, mostly due to downed trees across wires.

The biggest outage is currently in Anmore, Port Moody where 616 customers are powerless. BC Hydro expects full power to be restored to that area by 9:30 a.m. this morning. In Vancouver, a small number of customers are powerless near Collingwood St. between West 2nd Ave. and West 4th. In the Southlands neighbourhood, 107 customers have been without power since 2 a.m. this morning due to a fallen tree.